Entertainment Weekly/Marco Grob/Marvel
There are dozens of superhero movies in theaters, in the middle of filming and still in development, but the biggest and most exciting of all is 2015’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Thanks to the track record of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the massive, rippling consequences of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, fans are dying to find out more about the next adventure of Cap, Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the Hulk. Entertainment Weekly was kind enough to oblige with their annual Comic-Con preview issue. First, they unveiled Ultron on the cover, giving everyone a look at the super-powerful, hyper-intelligent AI that the Avengers will be facing this time around. If his appearance reminds you of a particular genius/billionaire/playboy/superhero, that’s because it’s supposed to.
Turns out that Ultron is actually a creation of Iron Man himself, which director Joss Whedon revealed in an interview. What was intended as a kind of AI sidekick for the team backfired with spectacular results, creating the villain you see before you, and forcing the Avengers to face the only thing more difficult to fight than an army of teleporting aliens. Whedon’s reveal is the first major hint we’ve gotten as to the plot of the film and how it will handle the aftermath of The Winter Soldier, so we thought we’d break down everything that EW revealed in order to determine how much we actually know about the next Avengers movie, and how much we’re still guessing at.
What We Know: As we saw in Iron Man 3, the Avengers are having a difficult time dealing with the consequences of saving the world. Now that SH.I.E.L.D. is no more, they have to take care of every threat themselves. So Tony, in an attempt to give the team some time to recover, invents Ultron, a “self-aware, self-teaching, artificial intelligence designed to help assess threats, and direct Stark’s Iron Legion of drones to battle evildoers instead.” Of course, the whole thing ends up backfiring and creating perhaps the biggest threat to humanity the world has ever seen.
According to Whedon, Ultron isn’t evil so much as he is lacking in human emotions. Once he realizes that the biggest threat to life on Earth is humanity itself, he decides to eradicate it in order to – in a roundabout, overly-logical way – save the planet. Unfortunately for the Avengers, since Ultron is so self-aware and constantly learning, he figures out that he’s not just a robot, which would be easily destroyed, but a computer program capable of uploading itself to the Cloud and then replicating in increasingly more complex and powerful forms. Basically, they’re keeping everything that made Ultron such a long-standing, formidable villain, but reworking his origin somewhat for the modern age.
What We Don’t: Also featured in EW’s preview are the twins (the Marvel Cinematic Universe can’t actually call them mutants), Petyr and Wanda Maximoff a.k.a. Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, and although we know that they’ll play a significant role in the film, we don’t know if they’ll be on the Avengers’ side or on Ultron’s. They were introduced in a mid-credits scene during The Winter Soldier in the custody of Baron von Strucker, and the magazine seems to hint that they might not be the good guys. We're curious as to how they manage to join up with the Avengers in the first place, and how much of a hand Baron von Strucker will have in that introduction...
We'll have to keep speculating about that, since we also know nothing about how big of a role Strucker himself will play in the new film. Casting Thomas Kretschmann to play him seems to suggest that he’s going to be very important very soon – if you’ll recall, Thanos didn’t get an official voice until recently – but most of the Avengers’ focus so far seems to be on Ultron. Although, considering the fact that this film seems to get a new villain every time we look away, that's proabbly a good thing. And speaking of Thanos, we’re still not sure if he’ll be making an appearance in Age of Ultron, or if he’ll be content to just torment the Guardians of the Galaxy for now.
What We Suspect: The other new addition to the cast, besides Quicksilver and the Scarlet witch, is Vision, who in the comics is an android created by Ultron in order to enact revenge on his creator. However, a few months ago, it was reported that Paul Bettany, who voices Tony Stark’s AI butler, JARVIS, was doing makeup tests for the character, which led some to speculate that JARVIS will be turning to the dark side. EW’s reveal of Ultron’s new origin seems to fit those suspicions quite well. After all, if one AI that Tony has created has turned evil, what’s stopping the other one from switching allegiances as well? And even if Tony isn’t the reason that JARVIS has gone bad, it would make perfect sense for Ultron to turn him against their creator. Granted, we could be wrong, and they could have just been using Bettany as a temporary stand-in, as the studio refuted, but this is all lining up rather nicely, so we’re going to trust our gut on this one.
Now all we need is for someone to confirm whether or not Sam Wilson and Falcon will join up with the team, and we can really start to get excited.
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Columbia Pictures via Everett Collection
The Avengers: Age of Ultron is adding someone new to their lineup, and it might be someone we already know and love. According to The Daily Mail, the film will be adding The Vision to their already massive cast, and are reportedly looking at British actor Paul Bettany to play the role — yes, the same Paul Bettany who currently provides the voice for everyone's favorite artificially intelligent butler and personal assistant JARVIS. The actor was apparently spotted recently with Jeremy Renner on the set of the film, and that he appeared to be participating in some costuming and make up tests for the part.
It seems like every time we turn around, there's a new character being added to Age of Ultron, and with so many other superhero franchises also in the middle of casting and filming, it can be difficult keeping everyone and their powers straight. To help you out, we've created a handy rundown of all of the new heroes and villains who will be in the next Avengers film, in order of how excited we are to see them on the big screen.
Unspecified Villain Played By: Kim Soo-hyunWhat We Know: Honestly? Not much. Kim, who is a Korean actress, was recently cast in an "villain role," which means that her character will either play a supporting role to one of or both of the film's two main villains, or she will be revealed to be a significant character somewhere down the line. How Excited We Are: Well, that depends on who she's playing, doesn't it?
The Vision Played By: Paul Bettany (Allegedly)What We Know: Vision is a robot created by Ultron as a way to enact revenge against his own creator. Though Vision starts off as a bad guy, he eventually becomes good and joins the Avengers, and even falls in love with and marries Scarlet Witch. His powers include flight, phasing, the ability to project solar energy, and regeneration, which is sure to make things complicated for the Avengers. There's been no word yet on whether this version of Vision will be tied to JARVIS in any way, but many people are theorizing that Ultron may corrupt JARVIS and turn him into Vision. How Excited We Are: We'd prefer if he made a Wimbledon 2, but we'll take it.
QuicksilverPlayed By: Aaron Taylor-JohnsonWhat We Know: Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff is the twin brother of Wanda/Scarlet Witch, and is also a mutant and a former member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. He can move and think at superhuman speeds, a trait which Taylor-Johnson revealed causes him to become easily bored and irritable. He's incredibly protective of his sister, likely due to the fact that they were abandoned as children, and have spent most of their lives running away and protecting themselves from people who wanted to harm them. Quicksilver will also appear in the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past, although he will be played by Evan Peters, and they characters will not move between the two universes. How Excited We Are: Well, it's got to turn out better than the other Quicksilver's Empire cover, right?
Scarlet Witch Played By: Elizabeth OlsenWhat We Know: Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. Scarlet Witch will be joining the Avengers lineup in Age of Ultron. She originally appeared in the X-Men comics along with her twin brother, Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver as part of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, but she was later recruited by Iron Man to join the Avengers. She's a mutant, and her powers come from her ability to perform "hexes," and telekinesis, which allow her to move or control objects as well as causing bad things to happen to her opponents. Olsen also revealed that her character can "connect with the dead and people from the past, the future, other universes," so we're excited to see how that ability comes into play in Age of Ultron. Scarlet Witch and Vision fall in love in the comics, so we're likely to see some sparks fly onscreen as well. How Excited We Are: We're always up for more female superheroes. Always.
Baron Wolfgang Von StruckerPlayed By: Thomas KretschmannWhat We Know: Strucker is a former Nazi officer who founds HYDRA, is the mortal enemy of S.H.I.E.L.D., and has spent most of his life attempting to take over the world through genocide. He is incredibly intelligent and strong, and is excellent at hand-to-hand combat, as well as having an aptitude for military strategy and disguise. Strucker has been thought to be killed many times, although he has survived or regenerated each time, and although it hasn't been revealed which powers he will have in Age of Ultron, in some comics, he is able to kill his opponents instantly by releasing the Death Spore from his body. He also sues his HYDRA resources to develop serums that give him additional powers and prevent him from aging, so that he can stay eternally youthful and torture Nick Fury for all of eternity. How Excited We Are: He's cool, but we've already seen one Super Nazi, and we're more interested in the maniacal AI.
Falcon Played By: Anthony MackieWhat We Know: Though it hasn't yet been confirmed whether or not Samuel Wilson/Falcon will appear in Age of Ultron, but since we know that it will deal directly with the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, it's likely that he will pop up in some way. Although his backstory differs somewhat in the comcis, in the film, Falcon works as a tactical leader for S.HI.E.L.D. and bonds with Captain America over their shared military experience. He is able to fly using a pair of mechanical wings, and in the comics he also has the ability to connect with birds, see through their eyes and communicate with them. Falcon has been Captain America's sidekick since the 1970s, and joined the Avengers shortly afterwards, which means it's only a matter of time before we see him line up with the rest of the team. How Excited We Are: Finally, Mackie will be in a film worth seeing. Sorry dude, we love you, but even you couldn't make Runner, Runner bearable.
Ultron Played By: James SpaderWhat We Know: Ultron is an artificial intelligence with an unfortunate god complex who is hell-bent on getting revenge on his creator and taking over the world. He's a long-term nemesis for the Avengers, having first appeared in the comics in the 1940s, so even though he's the main villain of this film, that doesn't necessarily mean we won't see him in future films. Ultron will be rendered on-screen through CGI, though he will be based on the motion-capture work that Spader will be doing. His range of powers includes superhuman strength, speed, and stamina, flight, and the ability to shoot rays of energy from his hands that renders opponents unconscious; however, Joss Whedon has revealed that not all of his powers will be featured in Age of Ultron. How Excited We Are: He's the big bad of the film and he's voiced by Spader. Need we say more?
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Columbia Pictures via Everett Collection
Two new bits of information from the set of The Avengers: Age of Ultron. First, according to Twitch, the movie is looking to add a new international location to its filming schedule, and will be shooting in the Gangnam neighborhood of Seoul, South Korea. Rumors of a Korean shoot have been circulating for some time now, and although star Mark Ruffalo has shot them down in the past, Korean representatives have confirmed that South Korea will be joining Italy and the U.K. as filming locations for the upcoming film. In addition, Korean actress Kim Soo-hyun has been added to film's cast of thousands, and although her character has yet to be revealed she has reportedly been cast "in a villain role."
Kim's character would be the third villain in Age of Ultron, as James Spader and Thomas Kretschmann have already signed on to play Ultron and Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, respectively. It's very likely that her character will play more of a supporting role, and probably work for or with one of the two main villains of the film, although, since her role is being kept under wraps, there's still a chance that she would be playing a more prominent villain. Superhero films have often been known to use multiple villains as a way of distracting both the heroes and the audience from the real villain of the piece, which means either Strucker or Ultron would be used to draw attention away from a more important character. However, both Ultron and Strucker are long-term adversaries of the Avengers in the comics, so it would be a more logical choice for the film to use them as the primary villains.
Regardless of the size of the role that Kim will play, the addition of a third villain might be cause for concern amongst fans of the series. Of course, having multiple villains in a superhero film is nothing new, but it's a difficult feat to pull of successfully, which might explain why there are so few films in which such a trope has worked well. Most movies like to establish some sort of backstory for their villains, in order for the audience to understand why they have turned to evil, and why they choose to terrorize this particular city or hero. Adding a second or even third villain would then require additional backstory for those characters as well, which tends to eat up a significant amount of the film's runtime — not to mention the fact that a film can only sustain so many subplots before everything starts to become convoluted. Spider-Man 3 attempted to circumvent the backstory issue by connecting Sandman with Uncle Ben's murder, but even that became confusing when added to Harry Osborn inheriting his father's role as the Green Goblin and Venom turning to evil after a petty feud with Peter Parker. Yes, that film has a myriad of other issues, but having three separate superheroes competing for screentime and Spider-Man's attention did nothing but drag things down even further.
Of course, even if Kim is playing a more supporting, henchman-type role instead of being a distinct villain in her own right, that doesn't necessarily mean the film is in the clear. Iron Man 2 attempted to add in a second villain with the addition of Justin Hammer, who plays a secondary role to Ivan Vanko, and assists in his scheme to take down Tony Stark, but ultimately, his storyline feels like an unneccessary subplot, and he's dispatched with easily and quietly. The plot of the film works just as well without him, and he doesn't add anything important to Tony's story or even to Vanko's story, so all he's doing is providing addition wisecracks and taking attention away from the rest of the story. It's not just Marvel that has difficulty balancing multiple villains, either; The Dark Knight Rises attempted to work in both Bane and Talia al Ghul by having the former provide the main villainy causing problems within Gotham, while distracting Batman from the fact that Talia was the mastermind behind the whole thing. Most of the film's plot focused on Bane, and when it was revealed at the very end that his story was actually hers, it felt more like an attempt at a surprise twist ending than anything else. She was never given the attention needed to make that ending feel earned or justified, which again, results in the double-villain trope being unsuccessful.
Even without factoring in Kim's character, the deck is stacked against Age of Ultron. Both Ultron and Strucker are significant parts of the Avengers mythology, which means they have complicated and dense histories, which the film will have to find a way of condensing or entwining in order to do justice to both of the character's origins and relationship with the Avengers. Marvel has been known to focus on one villain as the main antagonist, and slowly establish the second one as a long-term villain who will play a more significant role in the next film. However, in this case, it's impossible to tell if that will be the direction they choose for Age of Ultron, as neither Ultron or Strucker gives of the impression of being a one-and-done character, which makes it all the more important that both characters receive the time and attention they need. The best way to go about this would be to follow in the footsteps of The Dark Knight, which incorporated Two-Face's origin story into the Joker's plot, and allowed them both to succeed as the villains of the piece. If Age of Ultron can find a way to combine the two stories — for example, having Ultron work for HYDRA, or having him be the catalyst for Strucker's founding of the organization — then it might be able to avoid the "multiple villain" curse that haunts superhero films.
With the addition of Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Rhodey, Age of Ultron already has the difficult task of keeping the story from becoming over-crowded with characters, and so, as a result, multiple villains doesn't seem to be a solid plan. They're already having to relegate some of the good guys to background and subplots, which makes it hard to see where writer/director Joss Whedon will be able to fit in the many backstories needed to sustain a proper villain arc. Furthermore, the increased size of the cast seems to be counterintuitive to the "smaller" and "more personal" nature of the story that he has promised, as more characters means there is less room to focus on the individual, be it hero or villain. The Marvel universe has thus far seen great results with its attempts to focus on the psychological and emotional elements of the characters as well as the action that we expect, and the description of the script for Age of Ultron makes it sound as if this will be joining Iron Man 3 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier as successful looks at the inner lives of the heroes. But adding in so many new characters seems to undermine that story thread, and might only result in a film that has too many plots to properly explore anything.
We're hoping that Marvel will be able to avoid the pitfalls that come with having too many villains in a film, and we'd like to see Age of Ultron join the short list of superhero films that have been successful. However, the larger this cast seems to grow, the more reservations we have about whether or not the film will be able to pull it off. It's a delicate balancing act to work so many subplots and backstories into a film that is cohesive and engaging, but Marvel's on a hot streak right now, so we'll just have to hold out hope that Age of Ultron won't allow everything to come crashing down. And if it does, at least they'll have a few dozen more films in which to make things right.
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United Artists via Everett Collection
The 14th time's the charm, right?
German actor Thomas Kretschmann has been cast as a villain in The Avengers: Age of Ultron. The actor has quite a diverse résumé, which includes his role as the Nazi in Downfall, and the Nazi in Valkyrie, the Nazi in Stalingrad, the Nazi in the other Stalingrad, or the titular Nazi in Eichmann, but the role that the actor is most famous for is probably the Nazi from The Pianist. In The Avengers sequel, Kreschmann is set to play Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, a supervillain from the Marvel comics. Oh, and a Nazi.
Kretschmann has played and uncomfortable amount of Nazis in his day. His IMDb page is crammed with more Nazis than a German U-boat, and our final tally for the actor is a staggering 14 times goosestepping on the widescreen. That's a heil of a lot of Nazis. The character Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker, whose name sounds like someone threw a book called How to Name Your Nazi Baby into a shredder and picked out strips of paper at random, is a classic Marvel universe villain that served as leader of the terrorist organization, HYDRA. The character and James Spader's Ultron will serve as the film's primary antagonists.
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Actor Thomas Kretschmann has signed on to portray a major villain in The Avengers sequel Age Of Ultron. James Spader has already signed on to portray the film's main antagonist, Ultron, and the Dracula star will reportedly play terrorist leader Baron Wolfgang von Strucker in the film, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The movie is set for release in 2015 and also features returning Avengers castmates Robert Downey, Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo and Jeremy Renner.

"Sorry if my snoring bothered you."
Those are not the first words I'd expect out of the mouth of someone who got up on a Friday morning to catch the 10:30 AM screening of a new movie but that is more or less what the fellow who'd been sitting behind me said as I passed him on my way out. I'd heard him snoring over the constant rat-a-tat-tat of bullets and butt-kicking being doled out by Milla Jovovich et al in this latest iteration of the never-ending Resident Evil series (this time in IMAX 3D) but I figured maybe I was hearing things. Nope he was asleep.
I used to play Resident Evil on my ancient PlayStation when it first came out. It scared the crap out of me. I enjoyed the first two movies — hey they included the skinless zombie dogs! — but I lost interest soon after that. How many times can you make the zombie apocalypse exciting? How many different skintight outfits can Jovovich wear while killing grotesque creatures who shoot evil grasping tentacles out of their mouths? Why should we care about all the blood and guts when we know the people we're supposed to be emotionally invested in will never die? We don't.
Try as he might there are only so many ways for writer/director Paul W.S. Anderson to give the Resident Evil series fresh new layers for each new movie. The Umbrella Corporation is the big bad. They were playing with biological weapons and somehow there was an accident that let one of the viruses loose... and boom you've got a zombie apocalypse on your hands. Our heroine is Alice played by Milla Jovovich and there is a rotating cast of characters who help her fight the good fight against the hordes of brain-eaters and whatever is left of the Umbrella Corporation that's now after her. There are some parallels to the video game series but Paul W.S. Anderson (a gamer himself) has taken lots of liberties with the basic plot over the years. While Anderson's flashy style is especially suited to these types of movies there's not enough plot to make it work.
We don't go to video game movies for plot of course but there has to be something to hold onto; otherwise why would we care if our protagonist were in danger? Anderson tries some neat tricks to snap us back to attention like bringing back characters that were killed in previous movies and throwing in a cloning subplot that calls into question some of the characters' true identities but it's still hard to get worked up about anything onscreen. However it ultimately sidesteps any deeper ideas that might take our attention away from all the guns. And there are so many guns and explosions and elegant butt-kickings doled out by Milla and her pals (or former pals in the case of Michelle Rodriguez's character Rain) that they blend together.
It is especially difficult to work up any interest in the story because it's a franchise and no matter how many times the stars or director might say they're not that interested in doing another everyone is just waiting to see how much money this will make before deciding to go forward. There is no question how franchise movies will end; there will be no derring-do on the part of the writer or director to actually kill off a beloved character permanently. At one point it seemed like Anderson was going to pull the old "And then she woke up!" trick which would have been bold both because it's such a hackneyed idea that it would make writing professors' heads explode all over the world but also because it would have required Anderson to play in a different universe and expand his repertoire a bit. Alas like Alice and Anderson himself we just can't seem to escape this rabbit hole.

The torture-porn blockbuster Hostel yielded one disappointing sequel before the franchise essentially fell dormant, leading many of us to enthusiastically hope that we'd heard the last of Eli Roth's sadistic saga. Alas, it appears Hostel isn't entirely dead, just relegated to that cinematic purgatory known as straight-to-video. Hostel: Part III, which comes out on DVD and Blu-ray this December 27, today debuted a new trailer:
Hostel: Part III was directed by actor-turned-filmmaker Scott Spiegel and stars Thomas Kretschmann, Kip Pardue and John Hensley.
Source: Quiet Earth via IndieWire
Click on the image below for our Eli Roth photo gallery:

Based on a graphic novel the violent tale revolves around Wes (James McAvoy) a meek 25 year-old office worker who hates his life. His boss berates him and he can’t even summon the balls to tell his slutty girlfriend to stop sleeping with his best buddy. But his world is suddenly rocked when Fox (Angelina Jolie)--a mysterious tattooed woman with a gun and a red sports car--takes him on the ride of his life. She takes him straight to The Fraternity a centuries old legendary group of hired assassins who live--and die--by their code: Kill one to save a thousand. Seems Wes’ long-lost father was a member who has just been whacked and he is now summoned to join up and unleash the inner killer in his genes. After a rigorous training regimen in which he is almost beaten to a pulp he emerges as the organization’s new golden boy and finds self-esteem in his new exciting alternative lifestyle. However the group’s enigmatic leader Sloan (Morgan Freeman) may have other plans in store for Wes that he isn’t quite sharing at the moment. McAvoy simply rocks as the most unexpected action star of the summer and that includes a season so far that has given us the quirky offbeat castings of Robert Downey Jr. and Edward Norton in Marvel comic book franchises. McAvoy (Atonement) has buffed up for the part but still looks like the average Joe exactly why the audience has a rooting interest as he becomes a fish-out-of-water in a group of hit men (and women). You’re with him all the way. This unusual choice is exactly what sets the film apart and makes it a complete original in an over-worn genre. Jolie on the other hand is absolutely who you would expect to play the heavily tatted Fox. Guns blazing feet slamming the pedal gorgeous and talented at taking guys out (of life) Jolie’s a card-carrying member of a club previously thought only open to men. She exudes cool and has never looked hotter. Freeman is at his best. He commands the screen adding his usual stoic presence to the proceedings with a nice twist that lets him show a creepier side than we usually get. Other members of the “club” are competently played by ever-reliable Terence Stamp German-born bad guy Thomas Kretschmann and rapper Common who shows he can keep up with the big boys--acting and other-wise. Hiring the Russian director Timur Bekmambetov for a summer action flick like this might have seemed an odd choice but anyone who’s seen his Hollywood-style homebaked hits Night Watch and Day Watch would know this is a visual stylist with no current equal in the action genre. His English-language debut is vibrant and pulsating alive in every way and thankfully more comprehensible story-wise than his previous work if no less fantastic. You still have to completely suspend belief for complete enjoyment but it’s all worth it. Bekmambetov seems incapable of staging anything in an ordinary way taking routine set-ups and turning them into violent bruising works-of-art. There’s not a single uninteresting shot in the entire movie which moves like the speeding train we see in one of the film’s most imposing sequences. Scene for scene this may be the most visually inventive trail blazing film of its kind in light years. Bring on the sequel.